There Isn't Always A Happy Ending
by human-inability
Summary: It had just been a normal day of boring work or school. Then World War III began in their own backyard.
1. This Is War

Katrina, or Kat, Fletcher sat in History class, messing around with her pencil. She was twirling it in her dark, curled hair, ignoring whatever the class was being lectured on today. Something about a Mongolian. She sighed and chewed on her pencil, deciding she should probably listen. She assumed she'd have a test on this sometime in the near to distant future. The color in her face faded as her eyes followed Mr. Teasdale to the window. There were people with parachutes landing in the yards of the school. All the kids, except Katrina, went to the window, also. She stood up, though, trying to get a better look out the window. She didn't know why she wanted to see. She was already feeling sick to her stomach. Mr. Teasdale walked outside. All of the kids watched him, and then screamed in horror as he was shot and killed. The men began shooting at the windows as she felt someone pull her down. She turned her head frantically, only to see Daryl. She tried to smile at him, but she couldn't. She was absolutely terrified. Everyone ran out of the classroom and out of the school. Katrina saw the few bodies that were astride the hallway. This was an image that she would never get out of her head.

Everything happened in a blur. Katrina couldn't pay attention to anything. If someone she knew grabbed on to her, she'd follow. Her eyes were always wandering, trying to find her best friend. But, he was nowhere in sight.

Next thing she knew, she was in the back of Jed Eckert's truck. She barely knew Matt Eckert, but she was just glad that someone was there to help her. She terrified and horrified… The way she was feeling just couldn't be put into words.

"Katrina!" She could've sworn she heard someone call her name. Then, she felt arms around her neck.

"Robert!" She yelled back, grinning widely. She couldn't believe she was smiling, but that thought was at the back of her mind. He was alive! Her best friend was alive! She turned to try and look at him, but he let go of her. She saw a couple other people in the back of the truck. She didn't really know any of them, but she knew their names. Danny and Aardvark. Daryl was there, also. She heard more gun shots and got down, closing her eyes tightly. She didn't open them again.

"Dad!" Katrina heard Robert yell. She sat up slowly, looking around. They were at Robert's father's gas station. Robert was frantically explaining what was going on to his father. She couldn't believe he understood him. Everyone was getting out of the truck. Fear just came rushing back to her as she hopped onto the ground. She stayed absolutely silent and just paid attention to everyone's actions.

"We're goin' to the mountains, we're getting' outta here," Jed said. Katrina glanced from her shoes to him. She was surprised. It was September and it was beginning to get cold. She didn't want to stay up in the mountains through the freezing winter. She weighed her options. She could go to the mountains and be safe, which is what her grandmother would want her to do, or stay in town and risk death… She decided to go to the mountains.

There was an explosion in town, followed by a loud boom and giant puffs of smoke. Tears filled Katrina's eyes. She tried to be strong and hold them back, but a few rolled down her cheek.

"Oh my God…" Jed's voice was full of worry and sadness. He was scared, too. They all were. Some were just better at hiding it.

"Boys!" Mr. Morris exclaimed. He probably didn't see her. She was being quieter than usual and was behind everybody else. "Get in there and get sleeping bags and food." They all did as told.

They grabbed all of the food and drinks that wouldn't go bad. The guys were getting a couple of knives and guns. She attempted to grab one, but Matt got the last one before her. Katrina stopped and glared at him for a millisecond, then continued to grab anything she could get her hands on. She had no idea how long they would be up there. No one did.

They loaded the truck up, leaving barley enough room for some of them to get in the back. There were little spots, but Katrina was telling herself she wouldn't fit. Jed, Matt, and Daryl would be in the front, which left Katrina, Robert, Aardvark, and Danny to stay in the back.

A helicopter flew over their heads. Everyone ducked, making sure the chopper didn't shoot at them or anything.

"Is it ours?" Someone asked. They all focused on not getting shot, so no one was really looking or paying attention.

Everyone was in the truck, where they had been determined to sit. Katrina smiled softly at Robert and his father, who were saying a heartfelt goodbye. Robert would do anything for his parents and she thought it was adorable. She wished she had had a great relationship with her parents like the Morris'. Then again, she was only seven when they died.

She had a gun in her hand, but she really had no idea how to use it. She sat in the right corner of the bed of the truck, looking at the empty fields. They were almost like deserts. She was nearly crying now, just thinking about her family. She prayed to God that the Spanish or whoever the hell they were wouldn't touch her grandmother. She was really the only person she had left.

They turned sharply into a field, ramming through the little fence that was there. Katrina saw the foreigners standing there. There were a bunch of them. She got down as far as she could, holding onto her gun for dear life. They were going over bumps and everyone nearly flew out of the back of the truck. The attackers were shooting and threw a bomb or something. She had no idea what it was. It just barely missed the truck. She was shaking now, she could feel it.

They stopped behind the smoke as another helicopter flew over their heads. She sat in the same position she had been, as low as she could possibly be. Her face, along with everyone else's, lit up as the chopper shot at the terrorists, as she decided to call them. That's basically what they were, right? Everyone cheered and whooped happily, then began to drive off as soon as Aardvark got to take a victory shot at the already-dead attackers.

A little while later, the car stopped. Everyone except Katrina got out. She heard that something was wrong with the radiator, then giggled at what Matt suggested. Now, she didn't know anything about cars, but she didn't think that peeing in the radiator was going to fix it. Sure enough, she was wrong. Well, at least she thought she was. Jed said it would work, so it probably would. He definitely knew more than she did.


	2. Scared Kids

Katrina was leaning up against one of the trees around the little area they'd decided to stay in. She had tried to help get everything set up, but Jed refused.

"What about our families, huh? What about them?" Danny asked. Katrina couldn't see, but she thought he was nearly crying. She wasn't going to blame him. She didn't know how she wasn't bawling.

"We gotta stay up here and hide awhile," Robert replied reassuringly. It didn't seem to help.

"I just wanna go home. I don't wanna hide. If I hide, they'll never find me," Danny retorted. This actually made Katrina a bit angry. _He's so stupid, ridiculously stupid, _she thought. _Wouldn't your parents want you to be safe, Danny? Wouldn't they rather have you up here, away from the war, than down there with them, basically asking to be killed? _That last part was incorrect, but she didn't think anything of it. She watched carefully as Jed held up the radio they brought. There was no way they could use it now.

"Check this out. It stopped a bullet that would've hit somebody," He set it down again and went off to do something else. Robert held up his headphones.

"I got these!" He exclaimed. Katrina smiled softly, though no one saw her. She was going to politely tell him that they wouldn't work, but Daryl had to run his mouth.

"Yeah, those'll do us a lot of good! We've got no radio! I mean, how long do you think we can survive up here on olives and Rice Krispies?" He asked sassily. Katrina raised her eyebrows in an annoyed fashion. This was just getting her even angrier. Her thoughts made her miss whatever Aardvark said to him.

"As Calumet student body president I... I forward the motion that we give ourselves up," Daryl almost sounded ashamed. Katrina widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows. What hell was he thinking!?

"I-I second the motion," Danny jumped up. _Of course __**he'd**__ go along with it._ _Anything to get his sorry ass back home, _Katrina thought. She didn't know why she was being so rude, but she decided that she honestly didn't care.

"We-we can't stay here. We need stuff and-…" Danny was cut off by the loud snapping of a stick against Jed's knee.

"Sit down, Danny," Jed instructed, but he didn't even look up at them. "You're not goin' anywhere, it's too dangerous to go into town," he shook his head then looked up at them all.

"I say we vote on it," Daryl took one step closer to Jed. He couldn't get much closer; there was a small fire between them. Katrina swallowed and watched with narrowed eyes.

"No." Jed replied simply.

"This isn't the big game, Mr. Quarterback. He can go wherever he wants," Daryl replied, shaking his head. That was it for Katrina. She ran up to him, slapped him across them face, and then shoved him onto the ground. _For a guy, he's pretty weak, _she thought.

"None of us are going back there, alright? Like Jed said, it's too dangerous! Do you wanna die?" Katrina asked. She was yelling and everyone was looking at her. Her voice echoed. The only noise was Daryl standing back up.

"Huh? Yeah, I didn't think so. So you can just hush up," she finished with a deep breath in. Everyone was stunned. They didn't think that any girl, especially the shy Katrina Fletcher, would ever do something like that.

Daryl made some smart comment which she couldn't understand, but obviously Jed did. He stood up angrily and then Daryl threw some can of something at him. He was stupid. They began to go at it, until Daryl was pushed onto the ground again. Katrina hid her laughter. Jed threw a bag of stuff at the student body president.

"Here, if you wanna leave so bad. Haul-ass, take your shit!" Jed exclaimed, then he seemed to calm down a little bit. Everyone else just stood around and watched with tension surrounding them all.

"That goes for the rest of ya," he began again. Katrina glanced at Danny. "I'm with Katrina. It is World War III down there. People are bein' killed," he informed them, as if they didn't already know that. But nobody snickered or anything like that. And then he said the one thing that everyone was terrified of hearing:

"Those could be Russians." Katrina gulped, her fear suddenly coming back to her. Everyone else was very quiet.

"But Jed," Danny whined. Katrina discreetly rolled her eyes. "What about your family?"

Jed looked like he had to think about it for a minute. "I don't know… But I'm alive and I'm stayin' here," he said as he stood up. "My family would want me to stay alive. Your family would want you to stay alive." Katrina nodded. That was the only reason that she planned on staying up in the mountains with all of these boys. Well, at least she had her best friend through all of this.

"You're just a bunch of scared kids," Jed finished and looked down and away from the group of… well, scared kids.

"What do you think you are?" Danny asked. Katrina couldn't believe him. He couldn't be content with staying quiet?

"I don't know… Alone I guess," Jed shrugged a bit in reply.

"No. You're not alone," Katrina said, walking her from her spot near a tree to Jed. Matt nodded and followed. He put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Hey bud…" Jed turned around at the voice of his brother. "What do you say?" he questioned. Jed smiled and pulled Matt in for a hug. Katrina grinned softly at them. Then, Robert slowly walked over to them. Danny made some typed of noise.

"I'm with you," he said. Katrina smiled at him and he smiled back. Jed let go of his younger brother and nodded. Danny, Daryl, and Aardvark were left.

"Now the rest of you get goin'," Jed said with a look on his face. It was a look that showed that he knew none of the boys were going back into town. They were all too scared. Not that anyone was blaming them. Nobody moved.

"Alright. But if you stay, you're gonna do as I say, okay?" Jed made it sound like a question, though it wasn't one. The boys nodded.

"So come on over here and get warm," Jed finished. He looked over at Daryl as everyone else began to walk to the fire. "Daryl," he said. Daryl kept his head down and walked sheepishly closer to the fire. He stuck his arm out and Jed shook his hand with a slight smirk on his face. Daryl apologized, then Jed did the same. He proceeded to tell everyone how he and Matt knew how to hunt and fish, so they could have food.

"We can stay up here for a long, long time," Jed finished. Matt nodded as everybody looked around at each other.

"How long, Jed?" Robert asked in a scared tone of voice. A plane whooshed above them and they all looked up to the sky, though a bunch of tree branches were blocking there view. Jed looked back down at everyone, turned his head in Robert's direction.

"Until we don't hear that no more."


End file.
